72 MANAGEMENT COMPASSDECEMBER 2012

CAT Corner IRMA ANALYSIS

THE Institute of Rural Management and Admin-istration (IRMA) is a top notch B-school and was the first in India to launch

MBA in Rural or Agri-Business. Un-fortunately, the institute attracts few-er than 15,000 applicants due to the tag of Rural Management. However, the flip side is that this small number of applicants is good news for IRMA aspirants as it increases the chances of success.

THE STRUCTUREIRMA is a 120-minute test with 200 questions that are divided into four sections. Unlike CAT, each question in IRMA has five choices - with +1 for every correct answer and a -¼ for every incorrect answer. The paper is divided into four sections (explained below) with no sectional time limits; you have the freedom to allocate time to the four sections as you wish. The 2013 IRMA admission test had

four sections like the previous years’ question papers. Students had to at-tempt the four sections in a total of two hours.

This year the biggest change has been in the distribution of questions across sections. English Comprehen-sion had 50 questions, Reasoning had 60, while for Social Concerns, the number of questions had dropped to 40. There was negative marking of one-fourth for each incorrect answer. Let’s now take a detailed look at the different sections:

ENGLISH COMPREHENSION A big departure from previous years, this year's IRMA English Compre-hension section did not have any grammar questions (aside from one question, part of a Reading Compre-

hension passage, where the student had to paraphrase a given sentence from the passage), featured two RCs, and had a form of Parajumble unique to IRMA. There were two RC Pas-sages (Topics: The Quality of National Statistics; ) with 14 questions from Vocabulary and 2 questions on idioms. Like last year, there was a Cloze test only with 15 blanks and easy-moderate options. The Para- jumble (six questions based

GAUTAM PURI With the rural economy and agricultural sector poised for a major boom, IRMA might be a good choice for you

Rural Sojourn

SECTIONAL BREAKUP

Section Total questions Time

English Comprehension 50

2 Hours composite

Quantitative Ability 50

Analytical Reasoning 60

Issues of social concern 40

English Comprehension

Topic Number of Questions

Diffi culty Level

RC Passage (2 Passages) 29 Easy-

MediumParajumble 6 Difficult

Cloze Test 15 Easy-Medium

Total 50

DECEMBER 2012MANAGEMENT COMPASS 73

IRMA ANALYSIS CAT Corner

on one paragraph) questions were difficult.

QUANTITATIVE ABILITYLike last year, most of the questions were of Data Interpretation. Most of the DI sets were calculation based. This section was almost a copy of the QA section of the IRMA FLT given by CL this year. An attempt of 20-25 questions is a good attempt.

ANALYTICAL REASONINGThere were 60 questions in this sec-tion. The surprise came in the form of five questions in a DI-CR format. Instead of a passage, certain data and advertisements were shared and rea-soning questions were asked on the basis of these. There were five ques-tions on Syllogisms (Statement Con-clusion), three on Odd Word Out,

five Critical Reasoning questions and two Decision making questions. There were also four RC–CR combi-nation questions. In AR, the selec-tion of questions was important as the seven question arrangement set was difficult, while the five question circular arrangement set was easy. A mathematical operator based set was also easy. Input output question set was of moderate level difficulty. An attempt of 18-22 questions within 40 minutes is a very good attempt in thissection.

ISSUES OF SOCIAL CONCERNThis year this section was thankfully found manageable by most students. More emphasis was laid on Static GK - 23 questions out of the 40 given were from this area. Overall, the most im-portant areas were Indian Economy and Agricultural/Rural Develop-ment. Questions from these two areas were moderate to difficult.

The analysis and predicted cutoffs are based on inputs from our students and experienced faculty. CL Educate Ltd does not take responsibility for any decision taken based on this information.

ABOUT THE AUTHORA chemical engi-neer by training, CL Educate co-founder Gautam Puri earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Read his blog for the best CAT tips: www.careerlauncher.com/gpspeaks

Quantitative Ability

Topic Number of Questions

Diffi culty Level

Data Interpretation - Table based

15(5+5+5) Moderate – Tough

Data Interpretation – Pie chart

5 Moderate -Difficult

Data Interpretation – Bar graph

10(5+5) Moderate – Tough

Data Interpretation – Line graph

5 Easy

Data Interpretation – Pie + Table

5 Moderate – Tough

Quantitative Ability – Probability

3 Easy

Quantitative Ability – Percentages

2 Easy

Data-Sufficiency 5 Easy

Analytical Reasoning

Topic Number of Questions

Diffi culty Level

Sitting arrangement (2 sets)

10(5+5) Moderate

Data Arrangement 7 Tough

Data Sufficiency (reasoning based)

5 Easy-Moderate

Statement – conclusion (syllogism)

5 Easy

Odd word/letter out 3 Easy

Odd man out 2 ModerateCombination Question: RC – CR

4 Moderate

Combination Question: DI – CR

5 Tough

Decision Making – CR 2 Moderate

Logical reasoning set based on sentence inferences

5 Tough

Input – Output 5 ModerateSymbol based reasoning 5 Moderate

Mathematical Reasoning 2 Moderate

Issues of Social Concern

Topic Number of Questions

Diffi culty Level

Indian Economy 19 Moderate-Difficult

Agriculture and Rural Development Schemes

8 Moderate

Geography 5 ModeratePersonalities, awards and place

5 Easy-Moderate

Misc 3 Easy

Estimated Cut: Off Marks (IRMA 2013-15)

Section 2011 (Percentile Cutoff)

2010 (Percentile Cutoff) 2012 Predicted Cutoffs

Analytical Reasoning 80.759 85.607 19-21Quantitative Ability 76.266 69.707 22-24

English Comprehension 58.426 67.24 24-26

Issues of Social Concern 50.168 70.43 15-17Overall 76.332 89.203 95-100